Hawaii Trip 2014 Week 1

We were fortunate enough to get to go to Hawaii for our vacation this year.  We had gone once before in 2009 for my 30th birthday.  This year Chad turns 40 so we figured what better way to celebrate his milestone birthday than in Hawaii!  Thankfully we stayed with my Mom and step-father Mike so we had free room and board and most of our meals were at home too - that helped make the trip MUCH more affordable.  When we came to Hawaii the first time we did a few days in Oahu and then kind of did a tour of the whole Big Island - we drove all the way around the island.  This time we did more farm tours since that's something we've become very interested in.  It was really interesting to see all the different farms that we did and what was so cool was how ALL of them were working toward being self-sufficient and sustainable.  All of them had solar power and really tried to use the Island's resources instead of having things shipped in.  We also did lots of water sports - stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, and my favorite - snorkeling.  We had a really great trip and Chad had a great 40th birthday.  On his actual birthday we got to tour the Kona Brewing Company and had dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Kona.  He also got to pick out an ukulele from Hawaii as part of his birthday gift from me.  Here are just a sampling of the pictures we took on this trip - we took over 600 pictures total!  The only thing I didn't realize until we got home and I loaded the pictures on the computer was that I somehow turned on the date stamp on the pictures and didn't realize it.  So ALL the pictures have a date stamp on them - I really wish I hadn't done that, but oh well.  The pictures are still awesome and we had a great time!

These pictures are from our first 2 days in Hawaii - we had a longer layover in Honolulu so we were able to check out the garden in the airport there.  And our first full day we just slept in and relaxed to get over our jet lag.




Once we'd adjusted to the time difference, we started doing more activities. We went stand up paddle boarding and then did a 5 mile hike to the Kilauea Iki crater. It was a pretty strenuous hike, but it was really cool and we had some amazing views. Here are the pictures of our first few days of activities.



One of the unique things about Hawaii is how many wild chickens there are everywhere! My Mom and Mike feed some of the wild chickens around their house and get eggs from them almost daily. They have about 15-20 wild chickens that live around their house. Our first farm tour was to the Hilo Coffee Mill. Unfortunately it rained that day, but we still did the tour with umbrellas. I was really impressed with how self-sufficient and sustainable the farm was. And they had the BEST vanilla milkshake I've ever had!



Towards the end of our first week in Hawaii we drove over to the Kona side of the island. Last time we drove around the island, but now they have the Saddle Road open which goes across the island and cuts the driving time down significantly. The ride on Saddle road was very unique and the elevation went up to 6000 feet. We got some really great pictures and even saw a bunch of wild goats and turkeys!



We were in Kona on Chad's birthday and it worked out that we did a tour of the Kona Brewing Company that day and snorkeling in the afternoon. I was really impressed with the Kona Brewing Co. - they give the used grain from brewing to local farmers, then buy meat from those farmers to serve in their restaurant. We ate lunch at the restaurant and it was really good. On the way home from Kona we toured the Hawaiian Vanilla Company. I didn't know until recently that vanilla is in the orchid family and must be hand pollinated, so it's a VERY time consuming crop and that's why good quality vanilla is so expensive. The tour was very informative and we got to sample lots of vanilla treats too. Here are the pictures wrapping up our first week in Hawaii.

Hawaii Trip Week 2

In our second week in Hawaii we did more water sports, toured more farms and basically just enjoyed relaxing and exploring the Big Island.  Here are pictures from our second week:


In these pictures we're doing more water sports. At the snorkeling spot we even saw an eel! Snorkeling was my favorite activity to do in Hawaii by far.



Visiting Hilo's break wall we finally got to see some sea turtles. I wish we could have seen them when we were snorkeling, but we didn't this time. Here are pictures from the break wall in Hilo.



These pictures are from my Mom's friend Wendy's house. Wendy lives with her sister and brother-in-law and her brother-in-law Jeffrey has created an amazing backyard garden. They could seriously charge admission! Jeffrey gave us the best white pineapple to eat too - they are only available in Hawaii in July so that was really cool. Here are pictures from their amazing backyard garden.



One of our last farm tours was to the Hamakua Mushroom farm. It was a really unique farm in that it was all indoors. They use a Japanese technique for growing their mushrooms in jars inside with special light and humidity controlled rooms. Here are our pictures from the Hamakua Mushroom farm tour.



After the mushroom farm tour we were very near Laupahoehoe Point, which is one of our favorite spots. It's the site of a 1946 tsunami that destroyed a school. It's got a sad history, but the spot is just beautiful and the water is unbelievable - the pictures so not even begin to do it justice. Here are our pictures from Laupahoehoe Point.



Our last couple of days we visited two of the libraries where my Mom has worked and also our last farm visit was Paradise Bee Ranch that's actually located in my Mom's neighborhood. We really, really enjoyed our visit and got to see lots of awesome things. Here are our last few pictures from our Hawaii vacation.

Bats!

We had noticed bat poop on the ground underneath one of the vents on the end of our house - it wasn't every day, but every few days for a few weeks.  Before we went on vacation for 2 weeks I wanted to make sure there weren't bats inside our house!  Chad went up in the attic and saw that there were bats, but NOT inside thankfully.  They were roosting on the screen behind the wooden slats of the vent at the end of our house.  If you looked hard you could see them at certain times of the day from outside.  I got this one decent picture - you still have to look hard to see them!  I've always liked bats even though I know most people are scared of them or think they're gross.  From the Humane Society website I learned that bats raise their young between May and August and that's often when people realize they are roosting on or in their house.  I also learned that a single bat can eat 1,000 mosquito sized insects in ONE hour!  That's reason enough to tolerate a little poop on the ground sometimes!  Here's the one decent picture of our bat friends:

July Birthday Dinner

Since my brother Fielding and Chad's birthdays are both in July we usually get together to celebrate their birthdays.  The last 2 years we've grilled out at our house instead of going out to eat.  This year we would be in Hawaii on Chad's birthday, so we made sure to have the July Birthday dinner before our vacation.  Fielding and his girlfriend Alicia came over and we grilled pork chops and lamb chops with veggies from our garden.  I also made homemade oatmeal pies.  Here are a few pictures from the July birthday dinner:

Enjoying the oatmeal pies.

Alicia, Fielding, Jessica, and Chad

The July birthday boys!

Fielding and Jessica.